Retributed And Redempted Love

Chapter 36

I was very reluctant 🥲while writing this chapter hope I didn't mess anything 🥹

Let's get into the story,

It was barely 6 AM. The house was still under a sleepy hush, the kind where the world hadn't yet decided to fully wake up. But Saakshi sat near the window, arms wrapped around her knees, eyes distant as the sky slowly shifted from charcoal to grey.

Her mind hadn't been still all night.

She kept thinking of Shravan-not just what he did, but what he must have gone through.

"How would it feel... knowing the man you believed was your father... killed your real parents?"

A chill passed through her despite the soft shawl around her shoulders.

"That kind of truth doesn't just break you-it rewrites who you are."

Her heart whispered for him-felt the pain he might be burying under those calm eyes, behind the silence. But her mind wasn't ready to surrender.

"He used you, Saakshi. He lied. Played with your heart. For that man. You cried for days. And now you feel sorry for him?"

She squeezed her eyes shut. Her chest ached with the confusion of it all.

"What if he had no one else to grieve with? What if that pain is still eating him alive?"

"No. Stop. He moved on. He married someone else. He has a child."

She stood abruptly, as if her thoughts were a room too small to breathe in. She walked toward the door, trying to silence the storm inside her.

And then-the doorbell rang.

Her breath caught.

This early?

She hesitated for a second before heading toward the entrance.

When she opened it, her world tilted.

There he was.

Shravan.

The early morning light hit just right-his black sweatshirt hugging his frame, hair slightly messy from the breeze, his stubble thicker than before. There was something raw in his look, something heavier. Manlier. Wounded. Still heartbreakingly familiar.

But more than anything... there was Shivu in his arms, curled gently into his chest, half-asleep with his thumb in his mouth.

Saakshi froze. Her hand still held the door, her body frozen in a memory that had suddenly become real.

Shravan looked at her for a long second. He hadn't expected her to open the door.

And he couldn't help it.

For a brief moment, his gaze softened-drinking in the way her loose curls framed her sleepy face, the mild puffiness around her eyes, the faint print of her pillow still against her cheek.

Beautiful.

Raw. Real.

Saakshi blinked, catching his stare, quickly straightening her posture.

"Sorry," he said quietly, his voice gruff from the morning cold or maybe the weight of everything unsaid. "I know it's early. I wouldn't have come unless it was important."

Saakshi composed herself, stepping slightly aside. "Come in."

He walked in, the scent of coffee and silence hanging in the air.

She didn't ask anything at first, just stared at Shivu - who stirred in his arms and blinked sleepily.

Shravan lowered his eyes. "He had a rough night. I have something urgent to take care of... I didn't plan this, but-"